Sub-zero temperatures Thursday didn’t slow construction of the Sherman Associates apartment building project on the former Grainger building site on the 700 block of Third Street South in Minneapolis. November marked the first month of positive construction job numbers in Minnesota since July, the state Department of Employment and Economic Development reported Thursday. (Staff photo: Bill Klotz)

Minnesota gains 3,400 construction jobs in November

Construction employment rebounded in Minnesota last month as the sector added 3,400 jobs, according to seasonally adjusted data released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

In November, construction led all sectors within the state’s overall economy, which gained a net 5,000 jobs during the month. Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dipped to 3.8 percent, compared with the U.S. rate of 4.6 percent.

Minnesota construction employers have added 5,840 workers to their payrolls during the past year, according to DEED. Even so, November marked the first month of positive construction job numbers in the state since July, when employers added 600 jobs.

“We had three consecutive months of job losses [in construction], but it did rebound on a seasonally adjusted basis in November,” Steve Hine, director of DEED’s Labor Market Information Office, said Thursday.

Since November 2015, the overall Minnesota economy has gained 31,978 jobs, an increase of 1.1 percent. The U.S. growth rate over the past year was 1.6 percent.

Sectors with job losses included professional and business services (down 3,000), government (down 800), manufacturing (down 200) and other services (down 200).

Employment was steady in two sectors: trade, transportation and utilities, and logging and mining, DEED said.

DEED originally reported 12,500 jobs lost in October, but the department revised that number downward to 10,900 on Thursday.

During the past year, seven of the state’s 11 major industrial sectors added jobs, DEED said.

Besides construction, other gains occurred in education and health services (14,609 new jobs), trade, transportation and utilities (6,701), financial activities (3,947), professional and business services (2,589), government (2,008) and other services (71).

Hine said the state’s construction industry is still about 10,000 jobs shy of its peak of 132,000 jobs in February 2006. Employment in the sector bottomed out at 86,000 in June 2010.

Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota State Building & Construction Trades Council, said apprenticeship participation in the state is “way up” and that more “new Americans” are looking at construction careers.

“Obviously, the demographics in our region are changing and we think … commitments from those communities are very positive sign for us,” Melander said.

Even so, the industry isn’t taking anything for granted. The recent job increases are “a good indicator, but we are taking the approach that our glass is somewhat half-empty because of what we experienced” during the lean years, he said.

Hine said residential construction hiring has proved a “persistent weak spot” within the building sector, despite a year-over-year increase in homebuilding permits and other positive market indicators.

Homebuilding employment has been in negative territory for most of the year, but it’s now up “a ‘whopping five jobs’ over a year ago,” Hine said. Residential construction employment was down as much as 4.6 percent in May.

“It does seem to be improving somewhat, at least related to where it stood over the course of this year,” Hine said.

David Siegel, executive director of the Builders Association of the Twin Cities, said homebuilders are struggling to find help across job types, from framers and painters to drivers and lumberyard workers.

“They are really struggling in all areas,” he said. “That is a little broader than what I have heard in the past.”

Like commercial contractors, homebuilders are “reaching out to all communities” to meet their workforce needs, Siegel said.

Also in November, private sector hourly wages for all industries increased another 25 cents to an average of $27.88. Wages are now up 5.9 percent from a year ago, compared with 2.6 percent at the national level, Hine said.

DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy said in a statement that Minnesota’s economy “remains fundamentally strong, with steady job growth and rising wages. Those trends are likely to continue through 2017.”

The jobs picture

Minnesota year-over-year employment growth by industry sector as of November 2016